


Mistletoe

by Bowieandqueen11



Category: Howl Series - Diana Wynne Jones, Howl no Ugoku Shiro | Howl's Moving Castle, Howl's Moving Castle - All Media Types
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Cookies, Christmas Decorations, Christmas Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Mistletoe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-30
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-16 18:40:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29087007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bowieandqueen11/pseuds/Bowieandqueen11
Relationships: Howl Pendragon/You
Comments: 4
Kudos: 33





	Mistletoe

Beyond the snow, past the diamond glistening pine trees that sparkle in the swirl storm, if you hop over the cobblestones that line the babbling river that divides the velvety fields, you’ll come across a castle.

Once you clear the surrounding woodlands, and manage to open the creaking hinges of the magic door, you’ll manage to spot a young boy named Markl holding a slightly wobbling ladder still in the middle of a large room, filled to the brim with flashing lights. Covering the walls, strung to and fro from the ceiling, every space in that room is blinking and twinkling with sparks of colour. Bright eyes reflect their flashes as another young person widens theirs even further, feeling the ladder bounce back fully onto the floor.

‘Markl! If I fall off we’ll never get this tree finished before Howl comes down!’

‘I can’t help if my arms are small!’

‘And your voice is loud!’

The Christmas tree is almost ridiculous in its size, as the top few pines scrape across the ceiling and drag Markle’s sleeve with it. Despite the frenzy, and the shaking baubles that seem to bounce around with the two of you, both of you are grinning from ear to ear, waiting eagerly for the look on Howl’s face when he comes down from the bathroom and see the state of his living room. Packets of tinsel still lie unopened on the floor, purples and pinks and anything vibrant you could grab your hands on, and you almost trip over their tussles as you jump down to the floor.

Taking a step back, you place one hand on your hip, a massive smile lightening up your face. Wrapping your other arm around the apprentice’s shoulders, you squeeze him into your side as you both gaze up in awe at the awe striking tree in front of you. However, your lips twitch into a little frown as you spot a flash of something from the corner of your eye, twisting your head slightly until you look at the empty staircase. Raising your eyebrows, you see a little specks of green swinging from one of the banisters.

‘Hey Markl, you didn’t tell me you had bought mistletoe.’

Markl glances up at you with a confused expression, before following your gaze to land on the stairs too.

‘I don’t think I did.’

~

Getting closer to Christmas Day, Howl (after getting over the very realistic shock of the decorated room), had finally been convinced into visiting one of the local village’s Christmas markets. The whole castle was full of cheer and bustle as Howl wrapped his cape around your shoulders and linked your arm within his. Smiling down at you, his long legs began to stride the two of you towards the front door, before his shoes quickly skid to a stop on the floorboards. Leaving you by the steps, he pressed a kiss against your forehead before running back into the room.

‘Stay here a moment, my starlight, I forgot the basket you gave me up in our bedroom.’

Before you could even tell him you had made a few spare to leave by the entryway, his hair had flipped and his frame had disappeared into a blur. 

Humming to yourself, you try to stifle the excitement you feel bubbling in the pit of your stomach at the prospect of a day wandering the cobblestone streets under the falling snowflakes, warm in your Howl’s arms, treating yourself to chocolate, taking warm sips of hot chocolate by the market stalls and just feeling so bubbly and content.

Wandering over to Markl, you look over his shoulder to see his tongue sticking out in concentration. Reaching over his head, you hold the nail in place as he places the finishing touches onto his very homemade, raggedy, but well loved stocking he hangs over Calcifer’s pit. 

‘Where’s he gone off to?’

Markl places his final sticker on the fluff collar of his stocking before taking a step back to admire his handiwork.

‘If you don’t go get him, we both know that we may not see him for the rest of the day.’

‘Hmm, perhaps you’re right.’

Skipping up the stairs, your step falters as you pass the upstairs hallway. Glancing up, you see another bough of mistletoe you were sure you hadn’t seen this morning hastily pinned up onto the light.

‘What is that wizard up to?’

~

Beaming, you place the last stream of charcoal icing into the splattered piping bag before squirting it onto the snowman’s nose. Straightening up the cookie, Markl reaches past your arm to grab onto the golden sprinkles, littering half across the table as the quiet chatter of Calcifer fades into the background. 

‘Now, are you two making a mess again?’

Taking another blank cookie, you blush as Howl comes wandering in the front door, shaking the snow out of his hair. He drops the groceries onto the last square of the table that hadn’t been caked in icing, unclipping his cape and pressing a kiss against your cheek. 

‘No more than usual, my love.’

He laughs, a deep whole hearted sound as he pulls out the stool next to you and grabs the cookie from your hand.

‘Well, they do look delicious, so I suppose I’ll let you away with it this time.’

He takes a bite as you raise your eyebrows in anticipation.

‘And they taste delicious too!’

You giggled at the crumb covered smile he gives you, reaching up with your thumb to wipe a few away from his lips. He, in turn, grabs the lapel of your apron and pulls you towards him, pressing a crumbly kiss against the tip of your nose and tickling your forehead with his hair.

‘Nice try, mister, but all your flattery won’t make me forget what you’re up to!’

‘What would I be up to, starlight?’

He presses a few quick kisses against your forehead, before you push him off and brandish your piping bag at his face.

‘Alright, mister. I know you’re the one who keeps hanging up mistletoe everywhere!’

He blushes at that, a smirk twitching on his face as he gazes down at you. Clearing his throat slightly, he suddenly becomes quite bashful as he looks away from you, before slowly pointing his finger up towards the ceiling. Following his direction, you glance upwards at the mistletoe haphazardly stuck above your head.

‘Has my plan worked? It’s been so difficult trying to distract you so I could place them up.’

Instead of replying, you leapt forward, wrapping your arms around his shoulders and pressing your lips fervently against his. His eyes widen in surprise and awe as you kiss him, the force of you tumbling into him knocking the two of you onto the floor. Landing on top of him, he places his hands onto your arms to steady you as the two of you break apart. Staring at each other in surprise for a moment, the two of you suddenly burst into giggles as you shuffle your legs to comfortably rest against his hips, reaching down to gently tuck a piece of his hair behind his ear.

‘I think it worked very well.’


End file.
